Avoid At All Costs
by catwritesfanfiction
Summary: It's been 5 years since the flock escaped from the school. The one catch? They didn't bring Max with them, for reasons Max is still unsure about. Now Max has been let out, told to go live her life, as long as she comes into no contact whatsoever with her old friends. But will this be possible when avoiding a certain black haired someone proves more difficult than it sounds.
1. Chapter 1

I nodded curtly to Jeb, my face wearing my average expression, meaning, of course, blank. No emotions. It was my number one rule, the only thing that kept me sane in this hellhole. Don't show anything, don't reveal your true thoughts, and it'll all be okay.

On days where it didn't hurt to think of the flock, I would chuckle softly, amused at how I was the girl version of Fang.

The only thing this proved, however, was how lacking I was in the department of self control. I managed for the most part, but I couldn't help but add in the sarcastic comment here and there, and if you were in my position, you'd understand why.

"What?" I said sharply, my voice piercing through the air.

Jeb looked up at me in surprise, not expecting me to speak. "Max," he said carefully, but I interrupted him.

"My _name_ is Maximum. Max is reserved for my friends, which means, let me think. Not. You."

I knew what his reaction would be, there wasn't one. Jeb sighed, continuing on as if nothing had happened, "You will be happy to know that we are releasing you today. You will go to high school, spend time with your _real mother._"

I am ashamed to admit that I was really interested by them, and I think it showed on my face, because Jeb chuckled.

"Why now? Why not when the others left?" Jeb winced, knowing it was a touchy subject for me. The flock had left me, I was almost certain they had forgotten all about me by now, not even questioned why I wasn't allowed to go.

"Max," he began, but corrected himself with a sharp glance from me. "Maximum, we've been over that. You weren't ready, you weren't strong enough."

"Jeb," I cut in, mimicking him, "We've been over this, we both know it's a pile of bullshit."

Jeb shot me a glance, before nodding his head, my dismissal. "You will leave shortly. Pack your things."

I let out a harsh laugh as I head back to my dog crate, two erasers flanking me. Jeb knew he was annoying me, now, and was just trying to annoy me. I didn't have any "stuff", I was a freaking bird girl!

**Most chapters will be longer than this, I just wanted to write a little prologue.**


	2. Chapter 2

**Just a quick heads up, The Flock never met Max's real mom in this story.**

I woke with a start, crankily opening one eye to see what had disturbed me.

There was Jeb, tapping on the bars to my cage. It was my wake up call.

"Don't get your knickers in a twist, I'm up," was the oh-so intelligent phrase I muttered from inside my dog cage.

"Maximum," Jeb's voice rang out, piercing my ear drums, "You are leaving today. Get up!"

That got my attention. Even if I wasn't excited about going to school, which Jeb had assured me I would have to do, I was going to get out of this place that had held me captive for years.

Jeb unlocked my dog cage, and I stepped out rather gracefully if I do say so myself. The door to the cage was the one I had been leaning on, something Jeb decided not to warn me about, and I fell to the ground, causing a _thunk_ to sound throughout the corridor.

"And, um, Maximum, there is one small point I wasn't allowed to tell you, even though it hardly matters. You won't be able to go looking for the flock, or try to communicate with them, or we will be forced to bring you back here."

I admit I was a bit surprised at his order, but what annoyed me even more was what he ended it with. "Forced to bring me back here?" I asked angrily. Jeb nodded.

"Listen, I thought I was finally going to be free, like the rest of the flock! I thought I would get to do whatever I wanted, not be tracked, not to have my every move monitored!"

All was silent for a moment, before Jeb said quietly, "Then you have been mistaken, Maximum."

That was enough to shut me up, and we proceeded to walk down the long hallway, through a series of doors, passing several cages of experiments that made me wan to cry and barf at the same time.

Finally, we got to the last door, one that looked less threatening than the last dozen or so. "Act normal, Maximum," Jeb instructed, and for once I did as I was told.

We opened the door and stepped through, and what I saw I almost couldn't comprehend. It was just an office space, people were making copies, printing things out, acting like there weren't mutants on the other side of the wall!

I did as I was told, though, and Jeb led me through the maze of office spaces until we reached a friendly looking passageway that I could tell led to the outside.

The car ride was rather uneventful. I guess I was being a bit annoying, pointing out random things like the sky and clouds and grass. But it was a bit overwhelming for me; it had been so long since I saw any of them

After what seemed like an eternity, we pulled into the driveway of a comfortable looking home. A woman and what looked like a younger version of her were standing on the porch, waving at Jeb like an old friend.

We stepped out of the car, and the younger girl who I had about 2 years on ran to hug him. I fake gagged, wrinkling my nose with mock disgust. The girl looked at me strangely while the mother looking figure looked at me with pity.

I hate pity.

And so, I did something I may regret later on. I snarled at her, smirking when er eyes went wide for a moment before she took a step back.

"Maximum!" came Jeb's sharp voice, that I was never far away from now.

"Yes, Jebby dearest?" I asked innocently, blinking.

"You do not treat your _mother _and _sister_ that way."

I admit, I was more shocked than I was comfortable with, but I did a pretty good job of regaining my composure if I do say so myself.

A flash of shock in my eyes, maybe, but nothing more than what could be seen through the window to the soul.

Wow, that was poetic for me, isn't it?

But, as I stepped inside the house, Jeb following me, I couldn't help but wonder where the rest of the Flock was doing right now. They walked right tout of my life years ago, but they haunted my everyday routine, which, up until today, had been sitting in a cage.

As far as I knew, the School had stopped keeping tabs on the Flock, seeing as they had escaped, and there weren't any GPS devices implanted in them, as far as I knew anyway.

"Now, Maximum," Jeb said, "If, in the rare case this happens, your other…. friends go to the same school, you will inform me immediately, and we will move you."

The younger girl shot me a confused glance, while the mother just looked down. Coward.

With the information I had gathered so far, I could conclude that the girl had no idea I had wings, maybe thought I was a foster kid or something, and the mother knew.

"Dad, are you gonna introduce us?" The girl asked, looking at Jeb.

At that, I nearly snorted, whoever calls Jeb "Dad" must be an idiot, and that's what I pegged her as.

"Of course, Ella," Jeb said, sending me a warning glance, "This is Maximum Ride, she'll be staying with you.

"Ooh!" Ella, as I now knew, said excitedly, "That'll be fun. We can like do each others nails, and hair, and I can pick out outfits for you, because, no offense and all your outfit is _so_ last year."

At this, I snorted. Last year? I was still in the tattered clothes the school had given me, so I had to assume she was just trying to be polite. It wasn't working.

"Stop right there," I spoke up, "No nails, hair, outfits. None of it, please."

I was pretty polite, if I do say so myself. but Jeb seemed to think otherwise, and shot me a sharp glance. Normally, I would retaliate by glaring, but I had already scared Ella and her mom enough.

Everything went quiet for a few moments, and while everyone else looked awkward, I gave myself a chance to fall into my own thoughts.

What if the Flock did go to my school? I doubt they'd let me go to school with my real name, and if the Flock was there, they wouldn't recognize me.

"So, when do I start school?" I asked, glancing at Jeb.

"Tomorrow," he said.

"Wait. What? You expect me to start school tomorrow? It's the middle of they year! And it's not like I know the stuff they're teaching!"

Cue weird looks from Ella, and yet another glare from Jeb. "You'll just have to deal with it, _honey,_" he said, his voice sickly sweet.

I sighed, frustrated. "Fine. Just…fine."


End file.
